St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications Sport Management Undergraduate Sport Management Department Spring 5-1-2014 The Role of a Player Development System in Major League Baseball Kyle Conklin [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad Part of the Sports Management Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Conklin, Kyle, "The Role of a Player Development System in Major League Baseball" (2014). Sport Management Undergraduate. Paper 6. Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad/6 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Role of a Player Development System in Major League Baseball Abstract This paper looks at the role of a player development system and the possible paths to success in Major League Baseball (MLB). The study looked at rookie players in the MLB to see if the path of their journey to the major leagues has an influence on their success as a ookie.r Two paths were studied, those who played collegiately and those who went through the minor leagues straight from high school. This study used quantitative data to analyze the differences in player’s performance as rookies through statistics such as batting average and on-base percentage for hitters and winning percentage and earned run average for pitchers among other categories. This was used to show the differences in performance of rookies and allow us to see if there is a connection between greater success and previous baseball experience. This study highlighted those issues and topics within the industry including; how minor league sports work, finances, the professional drafts, contributions to player performance, and cognitive development of athletes. Results showed that there was not a significant difference in production between high school and collegiate players during their rookie year. These results suggest that perhaps any sort of organizational philosophy one way or the other may be faulty, and an organization should simply look at the player and not worry so much about their level of experience. Document Type Undergraduate Project Professor's Name Dr. Dane-Staples Keywords Minor League Baseball, Player Development, Baseball Subject Categories Sports Management This undergraduate project is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/sport_undergrad/6 THE ROLE OF A PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM 1 The Role of a Player Development System in Major League Baseball: How does MLB rookie success relate to previous baseball experience? Kyle P. Conklin St. John Fisher College Author Note Kyle P. Conklin, Department of Sport Management, St. John Fisher College Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kyle Conklin, Department of Sport Management, St. John Fisher College, Rochester NY 14618 THE ROLE OF A PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM 2 Abstract This paper looks at the role of a player development system and the possible paths to success in Major League Baseball (MLB). The study looked at rookie players in the MLB to see if the path of their journey to the major leagues has an influence on their success as a rookie. Two paths were studied, those who played collegiately and those who went through the minor leagues straight from high school. This study used quantitative data to analyze the differences in player’s performance as rookies through statistics such as batting average and on-base percentage for hitters and winning percentage and earned run average for pitchers among other categories. This was used to show the differences in performance of rookies and allow us to see if there is a connection between greater success and previous baseball experience. This study highlighted those issues and topics within the industry including; how minor league sports work, finances, the professional drafts, contributions to player performance, and cognitive development of athletes. Results showed that there was not a significant difference in production between high school and collegiate players during their rookie year. These results suggest that perhaps any sort of organizational philosophy one way or the other may be faulty, and an organization should simply look at the player and not worry so much about their level of experience. THE ROLE OF A PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM 3 Introduction The development of young players is a key to the success of any major league sports franchise. No organization wants to invest time and money into a player who fails to make it to the major leagues. This study explored whether MLB rookie success relates to previous baseball experience. The findings reported in this study will help when it comes to Major League Baseball and the philosophy of an organization when it comes to drafting and developing players within their organization. Investing time, money, and resources in a player can be very taxing and to have that player fail to make the impact they were expected to do when reaching the major league level can be rough on an organization. With the current league structure the way it is players drafted relatively high are often guaranteed millions in signing bonuses and salary before they even step on the field (Van Sweep, 2010). If this research being conducted finds that there is one route that is more of a guaranteed success than the other it can be very beneficial to major league organizations. If a small market team relies heavily on their rookie players then they may be more inclined to draft the more impactful player as opposed to the ones who may take longer to develop in the majors. The research conducted for the literature review of this study will come primarily from the following list of categories; the role and workings of minor league sports, contributions to player’s performance, pro draft rules and protocols cognitive development of a player, and financial management for both a player and team. These topics will span across all of the major professional sports in North America including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Basketball Association (NBA). The articles written at a scholarly level is very limited when it comes to the impact of player development or minor league sports on the preparedness of an athlete when THE ROLE OF A PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM 4 reaching the highest level of competition in their sport. Most of the research that has been conducted on minor league sports simply focuses on fans and attendance. This study will help shed light on a part of sports that has been for the most part ignored in the scholarly circle. Statistics were gathered to support this hypothesis by compiling rookie year statistics for both pitchers and position players during first full year in Major League Baseball. The sample that is going to be used will be rookie players who completed that season during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 campaigns. The point of this research is to see how influential rookies with either college or high school experience are to their particular organization when it comes to their statistical data in their first year of professional play. The factors that will be looked at in the analysis of this study will be purely statistical. The data that will show the answer to this question are all statistically based and reflect the performance of the athletes in Major League Baseball. Literature Review Role of Minor League Sports Minor league sports have become a big part of the professional sports landscape in North America. Its role in getting athletes ready for the pros is something that can be incredibly helpful for an organization and its players. Major League Baseball has developed an extensive minor league program that incorporates player’s right from high school or collegiate institutions (Winfree, 2005). Though this study will focus on the MLB for its data source the literature review however will focus on the NHL, NFL, and NBA as well. Major League Baseball, along with the National Hockey League has incorporated minor league sports as a way to develop their prospects and make them into better rookies and young players. However some professional North American sports have decided to go away from this THE ROLE OF A PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM 5 development approach and throw their players right into the fire. The National Football League does not have any directly affiliated minor league development player. The National Basketball League primarily follows the NFL’s approach but does have a developmental league known as the D-League. The D-League has made an attempt to strengthen the league by increasing affiliations with NBA teams but still, not even each team has their own minor league affiliate and some D-League teams have up to four NBA affiliations (Lombardo, 2012). However the NBA does not use the D-League as a typical developmental league. Most players drafted into the NBA showing any promise will report directly to the NBA franchise. The lack of a minor league system can greatly hurt the development of a player. Not only does a minor league system give them the chance to develop their skills but it gives them an adjustment period to get accustomed to the life and lifestyle that comes with being a professional athlete. Without the acclamation period that the minor leagues provide, rookie athletes in the NFL and NBA are at a disadvantage. A minor league system also allows for a team to better control player salaries.